Marketing Tools
Give More Sticking Power to Your Resolutions!
Growing Your Business by Adding More Sticking Power to Your Resolutions If you are like me, a new year brings dreams of a fresh start for your small business. Hopes abound for the New Year. But, in the back of… [Link]
Marketing Not Selling!
Is This Your Biggest Mistake? Is your business making this mistake? You believe your small business is all about selling products–a fatal mistake! Put your time, energy and money into this belief and you will not make any real profits!… [Link]
Create a USP in 30 Minutes
Create a Powerful USP in less than 30 Minutes! In this blog entry, I am going to show you an easy to use exercise that will help you create your own business brand, your USP in less than 30 minutes…. [Link]
Networking that Works
Networking That Works! Do you belong to one or more networking groups and attend networking events as part of marketing your small business? If you've been part of a networking group for some time, but haven't had a lot of… [Link]
Transitions to a Niche Business
Customers often ask, “How can I make the transition from my current business? I cannot afford to just give up my existing business. Here’s a story that will help answer that question. The customer told me, “My immediate goal is… [Link]
Niche Building the Natural Way
Grow Your Business the Natural Way Did you know that many of the internet references to the word, “niche” deal with the biological and physical sciences? Nature has been niche building for years! Take the example of the humming bird…. [Link]
Building a Business Niche
Niche Your Way to Profits I am convinced that building a small business niche is the only way to success. I share my beliefs about small business niche building. My own thoughts continue to evolve in a direction that say,… [Link]
Branding your Business
What Can You Learn From Branding? You have heard of power brands like Harley-Davidson, Nordstrom, and Domino’s Pizza. Their names evoke specific emotions and feelings. Each of these brands stands for something special. They are the modern day version of… [Link]
Networking and 60 Second Commercials–Non-verbal Communications
Step Five We’ve been talking about the components to make better 60 second commercials. This week I want to talk about the final component—the non-verbal skills used in your commercial. Did you know that only 7% of communications is accomplished… [Link]
Networking and 60 Second Commercials–Non-verbal Communications
How to Give a Dynamic Presentation Would you like to experience the benefits of being a good speaker? Speaking before groups offers a tremendous opportunity for personal and professional development. Never before have excellent communication skills been more important than… [Link]
Networking and 60 Second Commercials–Non-verbal Communications
Here’s a list of things you need to be aware of that will cause your prospect to pay attention to you and truly learn from you. Vary the speed of your speech Your speed of delivery must vary - meaning… [Link]
Networking and 60 Second Commercials–Non-verbal Communications
So far, we have looked at the best ways to make a good 60 second commercial. The first four elements were: Preparation Who is your perfect customer What are you offering Why should I believe you The final component of… [Link]
Networking and 60 Second Commercials–Your Credibility
Personal Beliefs Beyond the climate of distrust, each of us has personal beliefs that screen out what others are saying in their commercials. If you have a belief that western medicine is the only answer; then any form of eastern… [Link]
Networking and 60 Second Commercials–Your Credibility
Believability is a Process Believability is a process. It is not accomplished by one shot credibility techniques. Every prospect has beliefs about himself and his world. Those beliefs help him make decisions. Being consistent with one’s owns beliefs is a… [Link]
Networking and 60 Second Commercials–Your Credibility
The Cost of Distrust Will Cost You Sales Before we dig deeper into techniques you can use to improve your credibility, there is another issue called the “Cost of Distrust.”’ Steven Covey has written on this subject. Bottom line, mistrust… [Link]
Networking and 60 Second Commercials–Your Credibility
Networking Commercials and Your Believability The fourth criteria of a powerful 60 second commercial is your believability. Michael Hepworth said it best. There are only three reasons why you don’t make a sale. Your prospect doesn’t want what you are… [Link]
The Spirit of Selfless Selling
The Spirit of Selfless Selling The words "sell, sales and selling" may be the most misunder- stood in the English language. We see selling as a necessary evil, something to be avoided at all costs, an undertaking that's rather unsavory,… [Link]
Business is Selling
Business Is SellingBy Michael MastersonAs we keep telling you, just about anyone can start a business. But there's an important caveat - and it jumped to mind when I got an e-mail from Lynn, who wants advice on starting a… [Link]
Selling
“Understand that you need to sell you and your ideas in order to advance your career, gain more respect, and increase your success, influence, and income." - Jay Abraham [Link]
Networking and 60 Second Commercials–Making an Offer
Quid Pro Quo Business can be reduced to a simple formula. I give you something. You give me something in return. Quid pro Quo. In trying to improve your 60 second commercials for your networking group, we talked about preparing… [Link]
Networking and 60 Second Commercials–Perfect Customers
Networking Commercials—Your Perfect Customer In this blog entry, we focus on the second item in making a good commercial, your perfect customers. Marketing can be reduced to a very simple formula. Match your product to a prospect who have a… [Link]
Networking and 60 Second Commercials
A Networking Group 60 Second Commercial Plan Here is the list of the main topics that can be used as commercials to help sell your business in a networking group. There is no priority listing with these topics. Create a… [Link]
Networking and 60 Second Commercials
Over the next weeks I will focus my blog entries on practical ways to improve the commercials we offer each week at our networking meetings. I will look at the 60 second commercials from a variety of different perspectives. By… [Link]
Successful Principles of Networking Meeting Groups–Part 4
Did you know that for an apple tree to produce apples, it needs to cross pollinate with other apple trees during the blossoming period? Bees help pollinate. The warm spring winds also help pollinate the apple trees.I share this biological… [Link]
Successful Principles of Networking Meeting Groups–Part 3
So far we have talked about giving referrals and giving feed back to referrals as two key principles for networking success. The third principle is Responsibility. Responsibility in network meetings comes in a variety of forms. First, it means showing… [Link]
Successful Principles of Networking Meeting Groups–Part 2
Network Meeting Success Principle No. 2 This morning before I stepped into the shower I put my hand in to feel the temperature of the water. It was too cold so I turned up the hot water. Why do I… [Link]
Successful Principles of Networking Meeting Groups–Part 1
Success Principle No. 1 Many people may be new to network meeting marketing. Raise your hand if this is your first networking group? In the next few blog entries, I will share with you four principles that make network meetings… [Link]
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10 Ways to Build Loyalty and Grow Referrals in Under 10 Minutes a Day by Laurie Hayes Even though it's one of the most powerful ways to build your business, most business owners don't send out personal cards because they… [Link]
4 Easy Ways to Boost Your Sales
by Bob Leduc Here are 4 easy ways you can boost your sales for little or no new expense… and without making major changes in your selling process. 1. Focus on What Your Customers Really Want Your customers really don't… [Link]
Building a Business Network
Business Networking, A Step-by-Step Plan The New Psychology for Working Business Networking Events Networking The exchange of ideas, information and resources. John Naisbitt, Megatrends Most network marketers make a huge mistake when trying to capitalize on the “gold” hidden at… [Link]
5 Marketing Mistakes Business Owners Make
5 Marketing Mistakes Business Owners Make by Michele Pariza Wacek Wondering why your marketing isn't working all that well? Never fear, help is here. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it) many marketing challenges can be traced… [Link]
Marketing in Tough Economic Times
Marketing in a Tough Economy ========================================== I'm taking a break from my Persuasion Series to discuss an issue that's on everyone's mind right now. "What is going to happen to my business if the economy keeps spiraling downwards?" There's a… [Link]
The First Rule of Marketing–Know Your Customers
The first rule of effective marketing is to know your customers. You need to know them better than they know themselves. What do they like and dislike? What do they believe? What are their dreams? What are their thrills and… [Link]
Test post
This is to test my posting to the website. [Link]
Recession Proof Your Business
Who knows whether we are in a recession, a downturn, or a slowdown? We do know this. You will find it harder to separate money from your customer’s wallet. Here are seven simple things you can do to recession proof… [Link]
Digital Economy and Slow Economic Times
It was recently reported that internet traffic to retail sites through the first week in March this year was up 16%-24% higher than the same week last year! These findings are interesting, according to InternetRetailer. There is usually a downturn… [Link]
The Power of Email Marketing
Small Series of Tips: Break Up the Monotony To learn more about multichannel campaigns, check out the MineThatData blog. http://minethatdata.blogspot.com/ The other ideas discussed so far are all for creating "primary content" — the main focus of each campaign you… [Link]
The Power of Email Marketing
Annual Industry Events To learn more about multichannel campaigns, check out the MineThatData blog. http://minethatdata.blogspot.com/ Many of us work in industries that follow relatively fixed annual cycles, where certain things take place at the same time each year. Since we… [Link]
The Power of Email Marketing
Planning, Step 1: What Do Your Readers Want to Know About? To learn more about multichannel campaigns, check out the MineThatData blog. http://minethatdata.blogspot.com/ This might seem like a pointless exercise — after all, isn't it obvious what they want to… [Link]
The Power of Email Marketing
As I conclude my thoughts on email marketing, I will share a longer article/blog from MineThatData. You will enjoy them. It’s a vision on how some businesses are beginning to use email marketing as a powerful tool in their business…. [Link]
Get Email Addresses the Old Fashion Way
Get Email Addresses the Old Fashion Way! The best way to get email addresses–call your customers and ask for them! Why can this be an effective business strategy? When was the last time a business called you for customer input?… [Link]
Customer Service Tips for Your Website
Another blogger has done a very nice job providing customer service tips for your website as part of a larger blog on customers service tips. Here are her suggestions. Website Tricks Make sure your website is user-friendly and attractive otherwise… [Link]
The Power of Email Marketing
Consider: If You Send 2 Emails per Week, That's 104 Emails per Year (or About 9 per Month) To learn more about multichannel campaigns, check out the MineThatData blog. http://minethatdata.blogspot.com/ And that's per campaign. What if you have multiple campaigns… [Link]
3 Deadly Easy Ways to Get More Emails
3 Dead Easy Ways To Get More Subscribers And Build Your Opt-In List It is obvious in the Internet world that people have to go to websites to find and get what they want. However the decision to buy the… [Link]
Hold a Contest, Give Away a Prize
Hold a Contest—Give a Prize Holding a contest or giving a prize is a popular way to obtain email addresses from your existing customers. If you have the street addresses of your customers, you can use a postcard to let… [Link]
Put Your Email Address Everywhere!
Put Your Email Address Everywhere! If you were given a business card without a telephone number, you would be puzzled. How does the business expect you to contact them without giving a phone number? In today’s digital world, the same… [Link]
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Sample Scripts Here are some possible sample scripts you can use to invite new customers to provide their email addresses to you. Use these or variations that fit your business. “I want to thank you for your order. Could I… [Link]
Stop the Bleeding
Stop the Bleeding You made the decision to get email addresses of your existing customers. This commitment signals your investment in building a future for your business. A first practical step is to “stop the bleeding.” By getting email address… [Link]
!0 Rules for Email Addresses
Attention, online marketers. Do your part and adhere to these rules. 1. Send e-mail only to those who have "opted-in" to receive it. Ideally you should use "confirmed" opt-in, in which a confirmation message must be sent to the recipient,… [Link]
Your Commitment to Enhancing Customer Loyalty
By now, I hope you recognize the practical value of using emails to enhance your customer loyalty. If you keep in regular contact with your customer base, you will generate 30% increase in sales or referrals. In the previous blog,… [Link]
Getting Your Customer's Email Addresses
Getting the Email Addresses of Your Existing Customers Here’s the biggest question I get from small business owners. “I understand how email marketing works and the power it has to generate additional sales. My problem is this—I don’t have the… [Link]
Conclusion
Conclusion In this Successful Marketing Tool I have gone into depth with three email marketing tools: 1. Email Surveys 2. Auto responders 3. Joint Ventures None of these tools have high cost. Each takes some time to develop. Each magnifies… [Link]
Joint Venture Mistakes to Avoid
Mistakes to Avoid Joint ventures aren’t slam dunks for your business. You can waste time, lose credibility and not get the results you want. Here are a couple of pitfalls to avoid. 1. Selfishness. If both partners are only in… [Link]
Tips for Finding Your Joint Venter Partners
Ten Tips for Finding a Joint Partner 1. Look for a partner that compliments your products and services 2. Look for a joint partner who serves the same target market 3. Look for a partner who supplies products and services… [Link]
Keys to Successful Joint Ventures
Keys to Successful Joint Ventures Joint ventures are like a marriage relationship. The qualities you apply to a successful marriage are the same qualities you want to bring to a joint venture. Here are four qualities to apply to your… [Link]
Benefits of Joint Ventures
The Benefits of Joint Ventures Think for a moment about the specific benefits that come from a joint venture with one or more other businesses. Shorten Your Acquisition Time In a joint venture, your partner has a special relationship with… [Link]
Joint Partners
Joint Ventures For those who fear their customer base may not generate enough new sales, look to joint ventures. Using your loyal customer base, a joint venture is the fastest and most economical way to double or triple your sales,… [Link]
Types of Sequential Auto Responders
Types of Sequential Auto Responders The better and more robust sequential auto responders are a paid service. Your data base is uploaded to their service and you control your sequence of emails via a control panel. There are several free… [Link]
Sequential Auto Responders
Sequential Auto Responders A sequential auto responders offers more sophisticated and powerful tools for small business efficiencies and sales generation. A sequential auto responder is a series of emails you create and arrange in a pre-determined sequence of time. You… [Link]
Auto Responders
Auto Responders You have heard me say many times, the real strength of the internet is not in your website. It’s in the power the internet has to make your business more efficient and effective. Auto responders are a prime… [Link]
Sample Survey
Sample Survey Here’s the actual email sent and the website landing page for the survey. Some of the boxes and colors from her website did not copy well onto this blog entry. To see for yourself, just click on the… [Link]
Email Surveys
Email Surveys Have you ever received a phone call that asks, “I’m not selling anything; could I have just a few minutes of your time to answer a survey about XYZ?” Against your better judgment you relent and say, “Ok.”… [Link]
Ten Minute Phone Call
Ten Minute Phone Call Here’s a simple, five step format to use with your ten minute customer phone call. 1. Start with a warm up greeting and conversation with your customer about themselves and how your product and services are… [Link]
Email Tools for Generating More Sales
In the next series of blogs, I dig deeper into the tools you need to be effective with email marketing with your existing customers. I hope you realize the power you already have with existing customers. Using email tools to… [Link]
The Content of Your Emails
The Content of Your Loyal Customer Emails What should be the content of your loyal customer emails? No matter what I say. No matter what you think. If you want to get your customers to read your emails, you must… [Link]
Getting Your Emails Read
Getting Your Email Read You have got your email delivered. Your Subject Line enticed your customer to click on your email. Now you want to get them to read the email. What can you do to get your emails read?… [Link]
Templates of Power Subject Lines
Successful Email Marketing Subject Lines Here is a list of email Subject Lines that have proved to be winners. They are templates of successful Subject Lines. You can simply substitute your content in the appropriate spaces. You’ve got to see… [Link]
The Email Subject Line
Your Subject Line Think of your Subject Line as a newspaper heading. You read the specific articles in a newspaper because your find the heading relevant or intriguing to you. People do the same when they scan a website. A… [Link]
Getting Your Emails Opened
Getting Emails Opened After the “From” line, the most important line in your email marketing process is the “Subject Line”. Your customer already knows you. You have credibility with them. Now you must get their attention with your Subject Line…. [Link]
2. Getting Your Emails Opened
2. Getting Customers to Open Your Emails You have used a variety of techniques to get your emails delivered to your customers. Now you must get those same customers to open your emails. In the next section, I will concentrate… [Link]
Getting Your Emails Delivered
Dear Attraction Strategists, We are more attractive when we create attractive correspondence Take a moment to consider this: • How does the way you sign your e-mails reflect what you are seeking to attract? • How often do you intend… [Link]
Delivering Your Customer Emails
Email Deliveries You face three tasks with email marketing to your existing customers. 1. Get your emails delivered to your customers 2. Get your emails open by your customers 3. Get your emails read by your customers. Each of these… [Link]
What Do Your Customers Want?
What Do Your Customers Want? All selling comes down to one principle—give people what they want, when they want it and how they want it. Do this and you will get the sale. Email marketing to strangers involves guess work…. [Link]
Email Marketing to Build Loyal Customers
After a brief holiday break, I resume my blog entries with a series of blogs focusing on using emails to your existing customers. Fatal Flaws If you have read previous blogs, I hope you are now convinced that the best… [Link]
Joint Partners
Joint Partners You may worry that focusing on your current customers is too narrow to generate enough sales for your business. Here’s another way to use your customer base to generate more sales. Your can use your existing customer list… [Link]
Use Your Website To Suggestive Sell
How to Use Your Website to Suggestive Sell Your Customers Recently, a group of top financial advisors got together at a national meeting to identify ways they could make inroads on the baby boomer market. They started with the question,… [Link]
Customer Loyalty Referrals
Customer Loyalty Referrals Let’s dig deeper into the referral process that stems from building customer loyalty with a good product and a wonderful buying experience. How can you use your website to develop these referrals? Top of the Mind Awareness… [Link]
The Long and Short of Customer Loyalty Continued
After Sale Selling The follow up phase for customer loyalty began after the sale. We saw this as the third phase in customer loyalty building. After implementation, the customer looks for maximum performance from the product. Most sales people fear… [Link]
The Long and Short of Customer Loyalty
The Long and Short of Customer Loyalty Customer loyalty does not start after the sale. You begin building the process of customer loyalty the moment you start selling to the prospect. In today’s competitive environment, customers want a good product… [Link]
Shift Your Web Focus to Customer Loyalty
Changing Your Web focus to Customer Loyalty The best way to show how a customer loyalty website generates more sales is to walk you through a success story. Follow along with Mona Anderson's success story. Mona is a good interior… [Link]
What's Your Most Important Business Asset?
The Most Important Asset in Your Business What is the most important asset for the future of your business? Your Product and Services? Is it your product or services? Products and services come and go. Business continues to change. Your… [Link]
What Business Reseach Tells Us About Existing Customers
What Does Business Research Show About Existing Customers? Studies in all types of industry show that if you keep in regular contact with your existing customers, you can expect 30% of those customers to buy again or refer their friends… [Link]
Ways to Grow Your Business
Ways to Grow Your Business You can grow your business in three ways: 1. Get more customers 2. Have existing customers buy more 3. Have existing customers buy more often Most street business chose Option 1 as the way to… [Link]
What Acres of Diamonds Can Teach Your About Your Website
By now you have read the world famous classic, Acres of Diamonds by Russell H Conwell. If not, treat yourself, buy it and read it. I will show you how Acres of Diamonds can help make your website more productive…. [Link]
Your Website Options for More Results
What Are Your Website Options? • You can do nothing. Keep paying high monthly website maintenance fees. Hope and pray for the best. • You can buy an expensive marketing programs to improve your web copy, make a better website… [Link]
Why Website Are Not Producing Results
Why Are Websites Failing Their Owners? Studies show that 80% of today's website owners are unhappy with their websites. You are not alone in how you feel about you website! Why do websites not producing the results their owner want?… [Link]
Ways Your Website Can Make Your Business More Efficient
Real time. Online project management, involving multiple users, traveling sales persons in multiple locations can make the standard project meeting obsolete. Windshield time. On line repairs to telephones, TV, computers and other electronic machines can now be done from remote… [Link]
Use Your Website to Reduce Business Expenses
Ways Businesses Can Use the Internet to Improve Their Profits A business can grow profits in three different ways 1) Gets more sales 2) Reduces expenditures 3) Becomes more efficient in their operations Your website and the power of the… [Link]
The Internet and Your Business Functions
The Internet and Business Functions Most small businesses look at the internet as having one purpose—generate leads for new business. This myopic thinking overlooks the biggest strengths of the internet. The internet and websites are tools to improve your business… [Link]
Surviving the Internet
The internet will be the final battle for most small business owners. Those who don’t have an internet presence will not survive. Those who had the foresight to create a website in the last five years will have more opportunities… [Link]
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Six quick tips for crafting and delivering effective multi-media sales presentations … We are at the dawn of a brave new era in Internet marketing. Until now, text has been king. Barriers have existed that have prevented the power of… [Link]
Seeing is Believing
Seeing is Believing Would you rather read a whole lot of text on a web screen trying to sell you a product or watch a short video about the same product? Seeing is believing. In a court room, the most… [Link]
The Power of the Spoken Word
From Daniel Levis Five reasons why the spoken word outsells the written word … You already know that emotion is the secret sauce that moves people to action. Yes, words on a page have the power to evoke emotion. The… [Link]
Authority Proof
Authority Proof This still works as long as your visitor respects the authority you use. For years, we have been told that four out of five doctors recommend XYZ. If they recommend it, it must be good!! You can use… [Link]
Visual Proof
Specific Credibility Techniques Failure to provide proof is one of the biggest reason why sales are not made on the internet. With our culture of disbelief and the challenges of the non-physical selling environment of internet, people come to websites… [Link]
Becoming a Believable Spokesperson
Becoming a Believable Spokesperson Credibility means having the right person communicate with the prospect. For websites, I call this the right spokesperson. A website does not allow for the two way dialogue in a traditional face to face sales situation…. [Link]
Believability is a Process!
Believability is a Process Believability is a process. It is not accomplished by one shot credibility techniques. Every prospect has beliefs about himself and his world. Those beliefs help him make decisions. Being consistent with one’s owns beliefs is a… [Link]
Structuring Your Guarantees
Structuring Your Guarantee There are a number of ways you can structure your guarantee to make it more effective and lessen your business risk. !. Qualify your customers. If you are going assume a large part of the business risk,… [Link]
Guarantees
Guarantee Because people cannot see or touch the products or get a clear sense of the sales person selling the product, the prospect’s believability scale are heavily weighted on the side of distrust. Every business transaction involves a certain amount… [Link]
Trust Characteristics
Trust Characteristics A trusting relationship has two important characteristics. First there is integrity. A person is who they represent themselves to be. They make a promise and they keep their promises. The second quality is competence. You and your spouse… [Link]
The Cost of Mistrust
The Cost of Distrust Before we dig deeper into techniques you can use to improve your credibility, there is another issue called the “Cost of Distrust.”’ Steven Covey has some nice thoughts on this subject. Bottom line, mistrust slows everything… [Link]
Hard Credibilty
Hard Credibility Hard credibility occurs when others testify to the benefits of your product. Hard credibility is the best credibility. A potential client knows you will say good things about your solution. They want to know what other clients experienced…. [Link]
Soft Credibility
Soft Credibility Techniques How do you build successful believability so that the client buys your solution to his problem? How do you build this credibility when you are just starting on your new internet business? This article explores both the… [Link]
Credibility Scale
Credibility Scale In my pricing materials, I described a pricing scale that everyone carries around in their head. On the left side of the scale is the cost of the product. On the right side of the scale is the… [Link]
Internet Credibility
Internet Credibility I grew up in a family of 7 children with a stay at home mom with one car my father drove to work each day. Her shopping process was the Sear Catalogue. She would select the items from… [Link]
Credibility Crisis
Believability Crisis I cannot speak for other countries. Certainly in the USA we suffer a credibility gap. For generations we put our trust and confidence in people with authority. No More. Political leaders, church and school leaders, business leaders, doctors,… [Link]
Credability on Your Website
Blog on Credibility and Believability Michael Hepworth said it best. There are only three reasons why you don’t make a sale. Your prospect doesn’t want what you are selling. Your prospect can’t afford what you are selling. Your prospect doesn’t… [Link]
Conclusion to Prospect Awareness
Conclusion The purpose of this Blog entries has been to show you that one size does not fit all. In the last national election, both political parties segmented different voting groups. There were the NASCAR dads, the suburban mothers, and… [Link]
Stage One of Prospect Awareness Continued
Intensify the Hidden Fear Part of your education of the prospect is to identify the full consequences of not dealing with the problem. If they leave it go long enough, what bad things can happen? What are the consequences of… [Link]
Stage One of Prospect Awareness
Stage One of Prospect Awareness Have you ever been in a situation where someone has said to you, “You have a problem”. You were not aware of the problem and probably resented the fact the person said you had a… [Link]
Stage Two of Prospect Awareness Continued
The story of your product creation or discovery In Stage Two of prospect awareness it is helpful to show how your solution was created or discovered. Usually this involves telling a story about yourself and how you moved from having… [Link]
Stage Two of Prospect Awareness
Stage Two Prospect Awareness In Stage Two of prospect awareness, your prospect has a good understanding of their problem. They are indifferent to solutions, to any solutions. Each of us has been here. We may have a physical pain in… [Link]
Stage Three of Prospect Awareness Continued
Endorsements Endorsements are essentially testimonials from well know people who support your solution. Unique Selling Proposition A clear, unique selling proposition makes you more credible. Being clear and distinct from your competitors gives the customer less to compare with makes… [Link]
Stage Three of Prospect Awareness Continued
Making the Case for Your Solution Your objective for prospects in Stage Three of awareness is to prove your case and inspire trust and confidence. Much like a lawyer, you need to convince the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that… [Link]
Stage Three of Prospect Awareness
Stage Three Prospect Awareness In Stage Three of prospect awareness, your prospect understands their problem and knows that solutions exist to solve their problem. They weigh their buying options, including your option, to determine which one will best solve their… [Link]
Tips and Suggestions for Stage Four Awareness
Tips and Suggestions for Stage Four Awareness Today’s customers are more sophisticated. They have seen plenty of offers and selling scams. When they see something too good to be true, they don’t move forward. Let me share with you an… [Link]
Dealing with Stage Four Prospects
Stage Four of Prospect Awareness For each of the four prospect stages involving prospect awareness, I will identify what is happening with the prospect. Then I will suggest practical tips you can use to match your marketing and selling to… [Link]
Clients Have Different Awarenesses
Clients Have Four Stages of Awareness Successful marketing combines the right target market with the right time and the right message. When you get all three ingredients correct at the same time, it usually results in a sale from your… [Link]
Marketing Awareness–All Prospects Are Not Equal
Marketing Awareness—All Prospects are not Equal Have you ever experienced the situation where you did everything right with your marketing and sales process and still did not get the sale? The prospect bought from your competitor or simply put off… [Link]
Yellow Pages or Internet–Your Customers Have Already Decided
Last week, I went to find a client’s ad in the yellow pages. I couldn’t find our yellow page book. I asked my wife. She said, “I think there might be an old one in the garage. I don’t keep… [Link]
Why Websites Fail–Brian Winters
1. You don't make people feel safe when they order. Remind people that they are ordering through a secure server. Tell them you won't sell their e-mail address and all their information will be kept confidential. 2. You don't make… [Link]
Do You Understand Your Customer's Key Words?
Customers Start With Key Words Website marketing differs from street marketing. The goal in street marketing is to attract the attention of prospects and lead them to a business. In web marketing, customers qualify themselves. They type in key words… [Link]
Customers Want Credibility
Customers Buy Credibility! Customers buy from people they know, like and trust. The key is trust. If you think credibility is hard on the streets with today’s crowded market place, multiply by ten the need for credibility on websites. With… [Link]
Customers Want to be Loyal To Your Website
Customers Want to Be Loyal Businesses grow in three ways: 1. Get more customers 2. Have existing customers buy more 3. Have existing customers buy more often Most street businesses chose Option 1 as the means of growing their business…. [Link]
Don't Duplicate Your Off Line Business On Line!
Duplicating Off Line Material on a Web Site A big mistake businesses make with their website is to take their off line materials and copy them to their website. When they do this, they fail to use the real power… [Link]
All Websites Are not Created Equal
A Website Is Not a Website Is Not a Website! Customers go to the internet for specific purposes. Sometimes they are looking for information. Other times they want options for solving a problem. At other times, they want to make… [Link]
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Do Customers Want Technology? If you had a store front and a customer came into your store would you send out your computer person from the back room to be your sales person? I doubt it. Selling is not their… [Link]
Is Your Website Dynamic Enough For Today's Customers?
Dynamic websites are rapidly becoming the norm for today’s business websites. What do I mean by dynamic websites? They can mix and match several key ingredients. Interactive Instead on the traditional, one way communication, customers want more interaction with a… [Link]
What Customers Expect from Your Website
Business Success is Simple You can reduce the secret of business to one sentence: Give customers what they want; how they want it and when they want it. When you do these things in your business, you will find success…. [Link]
A Marketing Planning Exercise Part II
Remember you need to build a follow up process for each marketing strategyâa series of ongoing contacts with the leads generated. These follow up contacts should show the customer you understand their problem and the benefits that come from your… [Link]
A Market Planning Exercise Part I
Conclusion—The Final Action Step As I conclude these series of blog entries on the ten deadly marketing mistakes, let me offer a simple marketing plan format. You can do this in two hours and it will help you avoid the… [Link]
Without a Plan, Plan to Fail!
Without a Plan, Plan on Failing Would you build a house without a plan? Are you trying to build your business without a plan? I don’t mean the thoughts you have in your head. I am talking about a written… [Link]
Is the Water Too Hot or Too Cold?
Testing Earnest Hemmingway once proclaimed that he was not a great writer. He was a great rewriter. He would rewrite and rewrite his stories until he had them the way he wanted. How refreshing to hear a great novelist that… [Link]
Confused Customers Don't Buy
Confused Customers Don’t Buy! At the heart of every business transaction, an exchange takes place. The business provides goods to services to the customer. The customer pays a cost for the goods and services. The exchange takes place. Behind the… [Link]
Why Should I believe You?
Why Should I believe You? Stop for moment and think about your credibility in today’s crowded market place. Customers have many buying options. You are only one of them. Why should they trust you (the ultimate condition for buying)? Every… [Link]
Who Do You Market To?
Who Are You Marketing To? In today’s crowded market place, it is impossible to market to everyone. Yet, when I ask a business owner, “Who is your customer?” they tell me, “Anyone who needs my product.” Customers have too many… [Link]
Failure to Make Marketing Your Business Priority
Failure to Make Marketing Your Priority Is marketing your top business activity? “You’re kidding, right? I am too busy running my business to make marketing my priority.” This is a sure recipe for business failure. You can be a great… [Link]
Tap Into Your Marketing Gold Mine!
Tap Into Your Gold Mine Your customer base is the most valuable asset in your business. It’s your gold mine and key to future success. Studies show that it is 10 times cheaper to market to your existing customers than… [Link]
Small Business Marketing Mistakes–Lack of Follow Up
NO Follow UP NO Business! Studies show that for most businesses it takes from 3-10 contacts to turn a prospect into a customer. Why so much time? Customers have many buying options. They exercise their options. Here’s the common marketing… [Link]
Small Business Marketing Mistakes
Small Business Marketing Is Not About You! Most small business owners use their yellow page ad as their marketing template. They tell the prospect the name of their company, the location and phone number; how long they have been in… [Link]
Small Business Marketing Mistakes
Small Business Marketing Mistakes Often I am asked, “Why is my small business marketing not attracting more customers for my business?” “Nihil Simplex” as an old college professor taught me. Nothing is simple. However, there are a number of basic… [Link]
Ways to Make Your Website More Effective
Test Your Site Good marketing needs testing. With street marketing, testing can overwhelm small business owners who have little time to test and retest. Web technology makes testing a breeze. If I could tell you how many unique visitors come… [Link]
Ways to Make Your Website More Effective
Off Line Marketing You want to use all available marketing and advertising tools to attract prospects to your website. Start with your business materials—stationary, business cards, brochures, invoices, newsletters, phone messages—all should be giving your website address and inviting people… [Link]
Ways to Make Your Website More Effective
Local Searches Most small businesses serve a local market area. Search engines now provide local businesses when requested by the searcher. “Banking attorneys in the St. Paul area.” To get your site listed on local searches go to Google Local… [Link]
Ways to Make Your Website More Effective
Promote Your Website Build it and they will come is the philosophy of many website builders. With 4 billion websites, one for every person on the planet, nothing could be further from the truth. Build it and it will sit… [Link]
Ways to Make Your Website More Effective
Let Your Personality Shine Let’s face it. Most websites are dull and boring. If a street salesperson acted in this manner, he would be out of a job. Your website is your digital salesperson. People buy from people they know,… [Link]
Ways to Make Your Website More Effective
Dynamic Website With a website you do not have the luxury of face to face communications with prospects and visitors. Because of this reason, most websites become billboards. How can you achieve a dynamic process on your website—your digital salesperson?… [Link]
Ways to Make Your Website More Effective
Focus on Customer Problems Website marketing is different from street marketing. The goal in street marketing is to attract the attention of prospects and lead them to your business. In web marketing, prospects already qualify themselves. They type in key… [Link]
Ways to Make Your Website More Effective
Website Models Your website can serve a number of different business functions. You can choose from four different models. While these models overlap, a site has a primary focus or purpose. Electronic Business Card When you use this model for… [Link]
Mistakes You Can Make with Your Website
Chasing New Customers Verses Catering to Your Existing Customers You can grow you business in three ways: 1. Get more customers 2. Have your existing customers buy more 3. Have your existing customers buy more often Most businesses chose Option… [Link]
Mistakes You Can Make with Your Website
Waiting Too Long You may be thinking. There’s no hurry to be aggressive about my company’s website presence. I’ve been doing good business for many years without relying on a website. My business has been doing just fine. There is… [Link]
Mistakes You Can Make with Your Website
Trying to Hit Homeruns! For years, websites were evaluated by the number of hits they received. “I get 200 hits per day!” The main goal of early websites was to attract as many unique visitors as possible. As the commercial… [Link]
Making Your Website More Effective
Duplicating Your Off Line Material on Your Web Site A big mistake businesses make with their website is to take their off line materials and processes and duplicate them on their website. If you do this, you fail to use… [Link]
Making Your Website More Effective
Business Sign or Internet Seller Some businesses create a web presence like they create a outdoor signs for their street business. If a website does not sell, even if it is persuading the visitor to get free information, it is… [Link]
Making Your Website More Effective
Customer Verses Company Most websites make the same mistake business cards have been making for years. Business cards—even the name “business card”—address the business. Name, address, phone number, how long they have been in business. When have you seen a… [Link]
Making Your Website More Effective
The following blog entries are common mistakes made by business owners in the creation of their website. Technical Verses Business If you owned a store front and a customer came into your store would you send out your computer guy… [Link]
Making Your Website More Effective
Business Activities Ten years ago, people laughed when some suggested selling things on the internet. At that point, the internet was primarily used for informational purposes. Now is is possible to buy anything on the internet from any place in… [Link]
Making Your Website More Effective
Customization Because of the multitude of buying options, the internet has become a place for customizing your purchase. Customers are no longer forced to accepted standard models from cars down to the customized colors. Recently, I wanted a keyless lock… [Link]
Making Your Website More Effective
Web Features and Benefits Let me start by indicating the features and benefits of a website as they pertain to business functions. The internet has changed our entire way of doing business. It now colors every aspect of business. The… [Link]
Making Your Website More Effective
In the next series of blog entries, I tackle the topic of making your website effective in today’s crowded market place. Having a website has become the today’s electronic business card. Like your paper business cards, you probably put front… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
Quick Review Outline of a Great Ad Formula We have spent a lot of time reviewing advertising issues and ways to make your advertising more effective. Here’s a quick outline version to use in creating a great ad. What… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
Call to Action The final ingredient in your powerful ad will be “Your Call to Action”. What do you want the prospect to do? Should they come into your store? Should they pick up the phone and call you? Do… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
In the last few blogs on small business advertising, I want to complete some earlier thoughts I made on the key ingredients to a powerful ad. We have already discussed in an earlier blogs Headlines, Credibility and your need to… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
Successful Offers In your previous Success Marketing Strategy I revealed to you the real secret to creating a successful offer which is… don't create the offer until you have found out as much as possible about the people who will… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
How Your Customers Want to Buy Once you have identified what is important to your customers when they buy your product or service, you also need to know how they like to make their purchases. Do your customers prefer to… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
Five Customer Buying Criteria 1. Information. Customers need information about the product. Depending upon the type of product, they may need more or less details about the product. Some products like a computer purchase will need more technical information. Others… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
Key Advertising Question The key advertising question is this: How can I get the right message to the right customer in the right way? Most business advertising fails in today’s crowded market place because they start their advertising efforts from… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
What You Need To Do To Avoid Burning Money On Advertising. Copyright (c) 2007 Mark Silver Heart Of Business http://www.heartofbusiness.com/ Advertising. Curse? Money hole? Or powerful venue? It seems so obvious: where else, for a few hundred dollars, could you… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
Here's an article by Mark Hunter about five different types of shoppers. How can you apply this to your advertising efforts? The Five Types of Shoppers by Mark Hunter In the retail industry, it seems as though we are constantly… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
Networking Advertising For years I was part of a weekly networking group that met to pass business referrals among ourselves. We don’t usually think about advertising and networking. Here are some insights about what you can do at a networking… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
Advertising Media Options Here is a fairly comprehensive list of advertising options: Television Product Articles Airport Advertising In-Store advertising Home Shopping Free Customers Public Transportation Examining in-store Magazines Professional offices Price promotions Product placements Loose inserts 800 Numbers Product samples… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
Internet Advertising In thirty minutes you can have your own business on the internet. It has never been easier, cheaper or faster to create an internet business. Anyone can do it, millions are doing it. You don’t need technical expertise…. [Link]
Small Business Advertising
Five Newspaper Advertising Myths Revealed I found this excerpt from Kevin Seits in a FREE report called Marketing for Smart People. I found an article about advertising in newspapers that we can learn something from. In the article, the author,… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
In the next few blog entries, I will share thoughts on non-traditional advetising forms. Feel free to add your comments. Cause Advertising You see corporate giants use this form of advertising. What about you? Cause advertising is partnering with a… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
Be Patient with Your Advertising Psychologists tell us it takes 15 or more exposures of a new idea before we understand it. Bottom line, this means that effective advertising takes time. The longer and more consist you do it, the… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
When to Advertise Each advertising medium has rules about the best time to advertise. Summers are usually slower times for larger purchases. That doesn’t mean you should not advertise in the summer. Don’t advertise around the holidays unless you are… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
Testing Advertising has science involved with it. Primarily advertising is an art form. You are trying the find the right ad that speaks powerfully to your specific target group at this particular time. As an art form, you keep trying… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
Advertising Budget The objective of advertising is to get your business out in front of your target customers as often as possible—as your budget allows. Many business owners say, “Well I didn’t have an advertising budget because I don’t have… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
Why Should I Believe You? In today’s crowded market place credibility has become the critical issue in advertising. People are skeptical of advertisements. They have been bombarded with so many outlandish claims. They have been tricked by so many half… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
Word of Mouth Small business owners tell me they get the majority of their business from word of mouth advertising. Most of the time, I don’t believe them. Why? Because if their word of mouth advertising was so great, why… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
What Advertising Medium Should I Use? In this brief blogs I cannot go through every potential advertising medium you can use in your business. Here are some criteria that will help you determine which is the best medium for your… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
Headlines The most critical part of your ad is your headline. You heard this before. Let me give you additional justification why 90% of your advertising efforts should be placed on creating your headline. The purpose of the headline is… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
3. Introducing a new product. The prospect may either know or recognize immediately that he want what your product does but he doesn’t yet know what your product will do for him. At this level of awareness, advertising creatively helps… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
Target Your Audience With the death of mass advertising, it becomes even more important to focus on your target market. You don’t have time, money or energy to waste on prospects who are not interested in your products and services…. [Link]
Small Business Advertising
What Do You Want Your Ad To Accomplish? You answer, “That’s a silly question. I want my ad to get me more customers!” Believe it or not, getting more customers is only one form of advertising. Here are other reasons… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
New ROI ROI has been a favorite way for businesses to evaluation their advertising costs. Look at the various advertising efforts and see which gets the highest ROI—Return On Investment. Most businesses measure investment in dollar terms. This limits the… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
Evaluate Your Advertising Efforts Do an honest assessment on your advertising efforts. Be prepared for what you may find with this assessment. First, identify the advertising media you are using. Let’s say for example, you have an ad in the… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
The Death of Mass Media The headline on the 10:00 news announced that the Minneapolis Start Tribune newspaper was laying off 140 people. Half of these were from the newsroom. The TV announcer said this resulted from a lack of… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
The Noisy Market Place Listen to how Dan Kennedy describes the noisy market place where you must compete with your advertising. “In order to properly embrace this I must first tell you about a thing called "Marketing Noise", which is… [Link]
Small Business Advertising
I will start a new series of blogs on advertising and creating effective ads for today’s crowded market place. Has the complexities of the crowded market place changed the rules for advertising? We laugh at the Super Bowl ads. Should… [Link]
Add on Selling
Consultation You have an expertise. Customers buy from you because they trust you and your solutions. You may be selling products or services. Have you thought of selling your expertise as a consultant? You product may require implementation steps. Or… [Link]
Add on Selling
One Time Products Some might argue, I sell a one time product and therefore there is no place for suggestive or add on selling. Use your imagination about things before and after the sale and you will uncover places for… [Link]
Add on Selling
Cross Selling This selling technique takes more effort front end time, but once it has been established, it can operate with very little effort. Start by creating a list of businesses that are good candidates for cross selling to your… [Link]
Add on Selling
Thank You Notes Most businesses miss this suggestive selling opportunity in two ways. First, they fail to send a thank you note after the original purchase. Besides being bad manners, they miss an opportunity to build customer loyalty—the key to… [Link]
Add on Selling
Down Selling Down selling is a different form of suggestive selling. To participate in a business seminar might cost $5,000. You would like to attend but the cost is high and it doesn’t fit your schedule. The sales person makes… [Link]
Add on Selling
Point of Purchase This form of suggestive selling is just what it says. It could be merchandise displayed at the check out, signs at the checkout, or additional offers made at an internet checkout.. The clerk may not even need… [Link]
Add on Selling
Step Three in the Suggestive Selling Process The third step in implementing a suggestive selling process in your business is to complete the original sale. Suggestive selling does not begin until the first sale has been completed and the wallet… [Link]
Add on Selling
Formula for Suggestive Selling Let me share with you an easy six step formula to implementing suggestive selling in your business model. Step One Your first step is to stand back and look at the bigger picture of your customer… [Link]
Add on Selling
Customer Greed Sales people may feel guilty about suggestive selling. Will the customer think that I am being greedy? There is another source of greed in every transaction—the customer’s greed. Once the customer decides to buy, they want to get… [Link]
Add on Selling
Your Expertise Customers come to you because they want a problem solved. They come to you because your expertise can solve that problem. Your expertise can show a bigger picture to the customer. How does it feel when a doctor… [Link]
Add on Selling
Open Wallet Something magical happens to a customer when they cross the line to make a purchase. Everything seems to change. I call this the open wallet phenomenon. Before a sale, we are resistant to buying a product or service…. [Link]
Add on Selling
Make Time Your Ally You can have one time sales or you have a series of sales by using time as your sales ally. Start by asking yourself the question, “What happens over time with my products or services that… [Link]
Add on Selling
Being Proactive Up selling stems from a proactive mode with customers. In your initial sales conversation with the customer, you discover what problems or issues they want resolved. They have decided to buy from you because they believe your product… [Link]
Add on Selling
Assumptions About Your Customer’s Buying Sales people often make assumption about how much and how often a customer wants to buy. You know what happens when you assume? ASS U ME. Studies show that given the option customers buy more… [Link]
Add on Selling
Turning Opportunities into Profits You could kick yourself for losing hundreds of dollars of profit. It wasn’t mistakes you made. It was over looking the opportunities that stood before you. How could you miss those opportunities? Your hard work paid… [Link]
Add on Selling
Resistance to Add on Selling In my carpet selling days, we had a sales person named Sandy. When we began add on selling, I noticed that Sandy was not following the scripts we had created. I asked her why. She… [Link]
Add on Selling
In the next series of blog entries, I will focus on ways that small business owners leave profits on the table. I will focus on your existing customers and ways of getting more sales from them. How valuable would it… [Link]
Price Raising Techniques
Exclusivity People will pay for exclusivity. Some businesses have exclusive memberships. Some have high priority customers with preferential buying times. People want to be treated as special, especially in today’s crowded market place. Are there ways to make your product… [Link]
Price Raising Techniques
Change Your Advertising Words The words you may be using to describe various features of your product may be depreciating the value of your product in the eyes of the customer. Using words like “easy to use”, “quick,” “ordinary” may… [Link]
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Quantify Your Benefits A simple technique you can use to raise your prices is to quantify the benefits your customer will receive from your product. In every business offering, the customer weighs the benefits he will receive against the cost… [Link]
Price Raising Techniques
Testimonials about Your New Price Get a testimonial about your higher pricing. Instead of trying to hide from higher pricing, be bolder about it. Get a testimonial from customers about your higher pricing. Like other testimonials, these can be powerful… [Link]
Price Raising Techniques
Understand Your Customer’s Buying Motivations Another strategy is to understand why customers buy your product or service. The better you understand these buying motivations, the more non-pricing options you can offer as reasons for the customers to buy from you…. [Link]
Price Raising Techniques
Avoid Words That Set Up Pricing Objections Often without realizing it, sales people set themselves up for pricing objections by the words they use. What will the customer think when you use words like, “Our usual price is”, “Our normal… [Link]
Price Raising Techniques
Be the Best Simply be the best in what you provide to customers. Customers will always pay for the best and pay higher prices for the best. To make this strategy work, you must do more than just claim you… [Link]
Price Raising Techniques
Stop Selling Your Time Move away from an hourly fee. When you price yourself by the hour, you put yourself into a pricing trap. What are the pitfalls of this trap? First, you limit your income. Your income is limited… [Link]
Price Raising Techniques
Move Up on the Marketing Scale Have you ever wished you could deal with higher end clients? Go for it. Here’s how. Focus half of your marketing efforts on higher end customers. Chose a fancier zip code, upscale advertising mediums,… [Link]